The Massey CAMPER!!!

It's been a little while since I've been able to take time to post about our happenings around here lately.  We have been busy with the "normal" activities but also added in a few things....like enjoying watching Katie play soccer in her spring league, visiting w/ friends and family @ the annual Kentucky Derby party in L'ville, watching Allie perform with her choir @ school, watching Lauren perform @ her talent show at her school......oh and camper shopping!!!!  That has actually taken probably most of our time lately.  But we are very happy to report that all of that shopping has paid off because we are now the proud owners of a hybrid Cub 21 foot camper!!!!  Woohoooo!  We are so excited to start this new adventure as a family!  The girls were so excited to finally have one (they, of course,

 have joined us on all of our camper shopping excursions for the last 2 months so they are even more excited that part is over with!) that our first night of having it here @ our house, they spent most of the night just playing in it, listening to the radio in it, and doing their homework in it!  HAHA!  Love it!  We hope to have our first "official" camping trip in it over Memorial Day weekend.  Wish us luck!!  ; )

                                                                Katie (self portrait!)

Spring Break 2013!!!!

YEAH!!!!  The Massey family was very ready to take a break and that's just what we did.....and headed south to take our break!  : )  Jason's mom and dad decided to try out renting a house in the Orlando area this year and invited us to go with them.  FUN!!!  The girls were already excited enough just to be going on vacation but adding the fact that we would be with their Nana and Papa....well, that just made it that much better!  We decided to drive so we wouldn't have to dig in to the kiddos' college fund to fly all of us there....seriously.  So 14 1/2 hours later....we made it!  And the drive was totally worth it.  We stayed in a wonderful area just outside of Orlando....10 or 15 min from all of the action but just tucked away enough to have a great place to relax and chill out!  The house was great.....4 bedrooms, 2 baths, huge kitchen, dining room, family room, kids game room AND heated inground pool under a screened-in lanai and.....all situated on the 7th hole of a beautiful golf course!!!  YEAH BABY!  We enjoyed swimming, tons of great food, a day @ SeaWorld, 2 days of golf, lots more swimming, grilling out, shopping @ Downtown Disney, great running trails, game nights and just tons of family fun.  We were all a bit sad to leave but then again, it's nice to be back in your "Sweet Home Sweet" as Lauren likes to say : )  Another successful family vacation to keep for our memories!

Allie is officially a TEENAGER!!!

Oh my goodness....this can't be....but our "baby" is now a TEENAGER!!!  How in the world of craziness did this happen so quickly???  Her day has finally arrived.  She has been literally counting the hours until the magic occurred that she would wake up to be 13!  : )  I think she realized soon after that she pretty much felt the exact same as she did when she was "12" but she was still very excited to have reached this fun milestone.  So exciting for her!  She had been teasing (imagine that....) for an I-phone.  Along with every other teenager in America.  And from the get-go we had thought that just wasn't gonna happen.  But upon doing a bit of research and thinking, we decided to be 'the best parents in the entire universe' (we'll see how long that title lasts.....) and surprise with it for her birthday present!  ***shhhh....don't tell but we got the phone for free and a good deal on our monthly package so it really didn't cost us that much....but that's between us.....  ; )  She really also wanted a fun friends party this year and since Daddy still travels quite a bit during the year and earns points for his hotel stays, we were able to cash some of those in for a free night at a nice hotel (with a 2 room suite!) on the northside of Indy, very close to a great mall. Once again, please hand over the title of "Parents of the Year" to us.  Temporarily.  Haha!  So Mama took 5 teenage girls to the mall, for some shopping, then to a hotel for the night for swimming, eating, laughing, movie-watching, hairstyling, laughing, more eating, and never sleeping.....while Dad and the other two Massey girlies enjoyed a night at home having fun together.  Allie must have told me atleast 10 times how much fun they had at her party and how much she loved this birthday.  Now to see what 14 holds for next year!  : )  So proud of our "little girl".....Allison Renee, you have become a wonderful young lady....full of funny things to say, spunk to add to just about any conversation, tons of love for your friends and family, a super creative spirit, a voice for singing...and talking.....and a true blessing to us as your parents.  We love you girl!!!!

Katelyn Grace is 5!!!!

Hard to believe but our little baby girl has turned 5!  Where has the time gone?  I'm so excited to see her grow and learn but something about turning 5 makes me just a bit sad and nostalgic....it's the beginning of the school-age years, the start of a new chapter in her life and the first glimpse of the "growing up" years......just glad we have the rest of the year to hang out together before she heads off into that!  : )  She is our ball of energy, always wanting to know what everyone is doing and wanting in on the action no matter what!  She adores her big sisters and tries to do everything they do....which can sometimes be a little scary!  She loves to color and practice writing her name.  And she loves to pretend cooking and help mama in the kitchen with real cooking too.  Katelyn is full of spunk and keeps me on my toes in the discipline department but also has such a sweet loving spirit about her and always crawls up on my lap to give me hugs and kisses! 

We had a couple of birthday parties to celebrate.....one @ Chuck E. Cheese, always a fun time there!  She requested a "monkey" theme for that one.....complete with a monkey cake that mama had never made before....but gave it my best shot!  And her other party, she went with a completely different theme (imagine that!) and requested a pink ballerina theme, but with chili dogs, fries and cotton candy.  Doesn't every ballerina crave chili dogs???!!  All in all, we had a wonderful time celebrating with her.  Love spending time with our girls, and even more special when it's enjoying the days that they arrived into our sweet little family!  Happy birthday Katie Grace!  We wish you much joy in your life and thank God for you each and every day!  Love you baby girl! 

Christmas 2012!!!!!

Hard to believe that another wonderful Christmas has come and gone.....seriously, where does the time go?  And is it a sign of me getting older that after each holiday, my post has something to do with how fast things fly by now?  Oh my, I am starting to sound older, aren't I??!!  Oh well, if this is getting older, I am all for it!  How blessed I am!!!  We were able to enjoy a wonderful month of December.......lots of fun things to do together as a family, fun times with just Jason and I, wonderful extended family times together, and so many wonderful memories made!!!  Here are just a few of our latest holiday memories.....1) Allie's Christmas choir concert @ school (she sang beautifully and of course, looked so pretty and grown-up....I'm in denial on that grown-up part.....), 2) our annual Ladies Tables of Christmas event @ church (I had the privelege of doing a monologue of Mary....so humbling and amazing to see what God can do thru events like this!), 3) Jason's annual work Christmas Party down in Nashville, TN (he and I were able to head down just the two of us to enjoy a weekend of great food, fellowship with his office, and a bit of Christmas shopping together....one of my favorite weekends of the year!), 4) family outing to Danville, IN to see the Christmas lights display there (kiddos jammed pack in the van, singing carols while eating takeout Chinese food out of the containers, snuggled in our car, seeing the awesome lights....pure FUN!), 5) making gingerbread houses with our cousins (total mess + total laughs = great times!), 6) annual family tradition of heading to the Childrens' Museum on Christmas Eve day (time to play together as a family before the night festivities begin!) and 6) spending Christmas break home from school enjoying each other (while trying not to drive each other crazy....ha!)......we are beyond blessed and thank God for continuing to give us these wonderful times together!  And especially thank Him for the real reason to celebrate Christmas....His son JESUS!  God is so very good......

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!

AHHHHHH.....my favorite time of the year has arrived!!!  I love the fall season but it truly doesn't get me giddy until Turkey day approaches.  Besides Christmas of course, Thanksgiving has to be my absolute love of holidays.  Glorious spreads of food galore and extra time with family.....nothing better.  This year we again hosted my side of the fam here at our house.....close to 30 people and the fun lasts all day!  Then my sissie, nieces and my almost teenager (Allie!) headed out for some Black Friday shopping from midnight til 6 am....woohoooo!  Now that was some serious fun!!!  Saturday was spent getting out all of our 887 Christmas decorations (that number calculated by my lovely hubs!) to put up in our house before heading south for a couple of days w/ the KY relatives.  Awesome holiday weekend to kick start the festivities to come......it truly is the most wonderful time of the year!  : )